


Camp Valley Forge

by FlickerInTheDark



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Camp, Camp Couselors, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Fun, Hiking, Summer, Valley Forge, camp valley forge, lgbtq+, mixed race characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-04-04 13:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14021553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlickerInTheDark/pseuds/FlickerInTheDark
Summary: Eliza is a camp counselor at the greatest summer camp in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Welcome back everyone! Sorry, it has been a while since I posted a Ham fic. But with summer on the way I thought it would be fun to see what happens if everyone went to summer camp! Thank you to iColor With Crayons on Fanfiction.net for the inspiration! Enjoy!

Today was the first day of camp, but this year she was not a camper. She would be a camp counselor! Her older sister Angelica would be the head counselor so she wasn't going to be completely alone. They had tried to get their sister Peggy to return to Camp Valley Forge but Peggy refused.

"Guys, you know I hate camping and all that outdoors stuff. Mom and dad said I didn't have to go besides I'm going to cooking camp in the city. That's more my speed." Very few people went to camp and then became counselors. Camp Valley Forge was literally where she spent her childhood summers, she couldn't imagine not returning.

Angelica arrived a few days early to set up and make sure everything was perfect. Camp started tomorrow for the campers and Eliza was a bit nervous. She parked and got out. The camp was just how she remembered it when she was a kid. She could see the crescent of cabins and the flagpole in the middle. Shooting out of the crescent were paths to different parts of the forest and lake.

She grabbed her two suitcases and backpack and went to the main building to check in. At the front desk, she saw her sister.

"Eliza!" Angelica said hopping up and coming around the desk to greet her sister, "You ready for 10 weeks of fun and work?"

"I'm a bit anxious, not going to lie," Eliza confessed.

"Don't worry I am too."

"Why? You've been a counselor here for 3 years, you have this down to a science," Eliza argued.

"Yeah, but this is my first year as the Head Counselor. I don't want to let Mr. Washington down," Angelica said before a door at the top of the stairs opened. It was clearly Mr. Washington coming down from his quarters but there was another voice.

"Yes sir, I won't let you down. I will make sure my campers have the best time!"

"I have no doubt son. But remember, some of these kids come from rough backgrounds and I want you to make sure they feel safe and that they have a mentor of sorts while they're here," Mr. Washington said before he came into view at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, Angelica! Hard at work as always," he said smiling at her and then he turned to Eliza, "Ah and you must be Elizabeth, your sister has spoken very highly of you."

Eliza was a bit flustered at Mr. Washington's praise. He had been here the last 3 years she had been a camper but this was the first time she actually spoke to him. She said a bit flustered, "Uhh, I mean, yes sir that's me. You can call me Eliza though." Mr. Washington shook her hand firmly and then moved to introduce the young man beside him.

"I believe Angelica you have already met Alex but Eliza I would like you to meet Alexander Hamilton. He is a new counselor as well."

"Please call me Alex," he said shaking her hand a little too hard. It struck her how excited he was. He seemed to be bouncing off the walls with energy.

"Nice to meet you," she said smiling. She wished she had his nerves. Before they could get cozy Mr. Washington said, "Okay troops, counselor meeting starts in a few minutes. Everyone head to the flagpole, Angelica and I will be there in a moment." Eliza turned around and she saw a few more counselors lined up behind her. She quickly moved to exit.

Eliza didn't know where she would be staying so she lugged her suitcases and backpack to the flagpole.

"Here, let me help you," Alex said kindly. She was grateful and touched by his small gesture.

"So you're the other Schuyler?" he asked still smiling despite carrying both suitcases. He didn't notice her suitcase had wheels.

"Yep," she said blushing a bit. To get the subject off of herself she said, "So you're new to being a camp counselor too? I don't think I have seen you as a camper before either."

"Never went to camp as a kid. But no matter, there's a million things I haven't done and I intended to make this the greatest experience for my campers to make up for what I missed," he said beaming.

They made it to the flagpole rather quickly. There was already a few people there. Alex seemed to find his group quickly. For someone who was new, he sure had made a lot of friends quickly.

Mr. Washington came with Angelica trailing behind him. "Attention! Attention!" Everyone got quite immediately and he continued, "Welcome to the 23rd year here at Camp Valley Forge!"

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd and Mr. Washington smiled and said, "Now most of you know who I am, but for those who I have not had the pleasure of meeting I am George Washington. During our time here you will know me as General or Mr. Washington. Now I think it would be good for us to go around in the circle and share your name and camp name. Angelica why don't you go first."

Angelica with all of the confidence said, "Hey everyone, my name is Angelica Schuyler and my camp name is Ponderosa. I'm also, the Head Counselor so if anyone has any problem let me know."

It next went to a Hispanic guy with curly brown hair and a lot of freckles, "Hey! My name is John Laurens! My camp name is Tortuga."

"Hi, I'm Hercules Mulligan. Thankfully you don't have to say all that, Herc is fine, Oak was my camp name last year and no way am I changing it!" Herc looked like an oak tree, all muscle and just shy of six and a half feet by her guess.

The guy next to this looming figure seemed almost miniature in comparison. This guy was slender and his Afro was pulled back into a ponytail of sorts. "My name is Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and like Oak, you have the great fortune of not having to say all that nonsense, Laf is fine. My camp name is dandelion because well as you can tell by my accent I flew over from France."

"Salutations, I'm Aaron Burr sirs and ma'ams and my camp name is Boulder."

A nervous looking guy was next and he was so quiet everyone had to lean in to hear him say, "C-charles Lee, uh Gopher." Everyone assumed he meant that he just saw a gopher but when people tried to find a gopher hole or the gopher they realized that was what he wanted to be called.

In contrast, a guy who was all flash and pomp. She couldn't be sure but she noticed he ironed his pants given the fresh crisp pleats. Did he realize he was going to be hiking and getting dirty? He said, "Bonjour! Bonjour! I'm Thomas Jefferson and y'all may call me Storm, 'cause I always bring the thunder." He turned and gave the guy beside him a high five.

The next guy had a terrible cough and in between coughs and wheezes said, "James Madison, Granite."

"Are you alright son?" Mr. Washington asked at James's troubled breathing. James only nodded. Mr. Washington raised an eye and told James to speak to him after this meeting.

Eliza was so caught up in learning people's names that she didn't realize it was her turn. Alex nudged her and she said, "Oh, hi. My name is Eliza Schuyler. Yes, Angelica and I are related. My camp name is Ember."

Then it was Alex's turn and he seemed to straighten and said, "Greeting everyone! I am the A-L-E-X-A-N-DE-R…" Mr. Washington coughed. They had clearly been through this routine before and Alexander blushed slightly and continued, "Alexander Hamilton but please just call me Alex. And my name here is Hurricane."

"And that is just about everyone here. Now let me give you all your cabin assignments. In Cabin A we have Charles and John. Cabin B Thomas and Lafayette. Cabin C Eliza and Maria. She won't be coming until tonight. James and Hercules you will be in Cabin D And that leaves in Cabin E Aaron and Alex Why don't I let you all settle in and during dinner we can discuss more about these upcoming 10 weeks, yes?" Everyone nodded he waved his hand and everyone was dismissed. People scattered. Eliza noticed almost everyone had bags with them and they all went to find their perspective cabin.

"How'd that go?" Angelica asked Eliza.

"Lots of people. Hey why didn't you get a cabin?" she asked.

"I have my own cabin. There weren't enough girls to justify another counselor so it's just me and 5 girls."

"Sounds nice."

"Why don't you get settled and I'll see you a dinner?" Angelica said smiling. She was biting her lip and Eliza knew Angelica was incredibly stressed. Eliza set down her suitcases and hugged her sister, "You got this. You would be Washington's right-hand gal now if he didn't think you were capable."

Angelica only nodded. Her sister was stubborn that way, never believing her own competency despite being all guts and bravery.

Eliza made her way to Cabin C. The cabin was of course empty. The rows of bunk beds on either side made her remember that there would be campers in here. Since she was the first one she picked the counselor bed closest to the showers. She never liked the idea of sleeping by the door. Maybe it was an irrational fear a bear would come in or maybe because it had a spider on the plastic mattress.

She began to unpack and wondered what this summer would have in store for her.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey everyone! Two updates in a week? What? Don't get used to it :). Please be sure to follow to get updates whenever I add a chapter. Comments are always lovely to receive as well! If there's anything you want to see just leave a comment!

Eliza finished grabbing her dinner and stood awkwardly next to the fire to eat. Angelica was busy speaking to Mr. Washington, the plate of food in her hand looked untouched. Eliza didn't really know anyone and it would be weird to just stride up to one of the clusters of people and ask to join. Thankfully, Alex noticed her and waved her over.

"Eliza! Want to eat with us?" he asked. She noticed he was standing with Laf, John, and Herc.

She walked over and sheepishly said, "Hi." 

"Hey, Eliza. We were just talking about what activities we were leading," Laf said.

"I was telling them how I was going to be leading an awesome water safety lesson and canoeing adventure," Alex said and turned to John to high-five. John was unprepared for this high-five and ended up having his plate slammed to the dirt.

"Alex, I know you will teach the kids so much cool stuff but could my salad have been spared?" John asked mournfully.

"Sorry," Alex said crouching down to pick up the lettuce and bits of carrot, "But let's be honest were you really going to eat that salad?"

"Maybe!" John said with fake irritation as if this were a routine. They clearly had some ongoing joke about salad despite the fact Alex was just as new as she was. She was envious how he could make these friendships so fast.

"What are you leading?" Herc asked between bites of his burger.

"Music and campfire singing. Nothing special," she remarked, "You guys?"

"Hey now! Don't think like that! You are preventing a serious problem. If the kids weren't singing around a campfire, you know what that would look like?" Her asked, "It would look creepy that's what. A bunch of kids staring into a fire not saying anything has got to be one of the creepiest things. You will be serving the most important service of not making this camp look demonic and creepy!"

"What must it be like in your head if that's the first thing you think of?" John asked. Herc just shrugged.

"Well, I am also providing a very useful activity. I'm doing a thing the history of the land. We stand here but do any of you the Native American tribe's that called this land home?" Laf asked. No one knew. "Exactly! I want kids to know about the cool history of this land."

"I'm leading a weaving and general art session. I did this activity last year where we crushed up plants and used them as paint. The kiddos will get very messy when they're with me," Herc said. The guy was so big; the idea of him holding a paintbrush was unimaginable. But she saw a banner for his cabin and it looked amazing. Herc must really have a hand for fine detail work. She realized it would probably be good for her to make a banner for her cabin.

"And I am leading the campers on a wilderness hunt or sorts," John said after he and Alex returned from dumping the salad and his plate in the trash. "I made little booklets to give to the kids, where they check off all the animals and plants they see. I hope Washington decides to lead a hike around the lake. Personally, I am still trying to find the ever elusive White Sand Turtle."

"That sounds really amazing," Eliza said. Despite what Herc had said she hoped they didn't think her choice activity was silly. They had chosen really educational and sophisticated things. What was she going to do? Lead a bunch of kids in silly campfire songs she had grown up with.

"Did you guys hear what Charles is leading?" John asked the group. She remembered Charles vaguely by how twitchy he was.

Everyone shook their heads. "He's leading wilderness survival and fire safety."

"Charles? Charles Lee?" Herc asked incredulously.

"Yep," John said grinning.

"After what he did last year?" Herc asked.

"What did he do?" Eliza and Alex both asked.

"Well, during a the annual game of Capture the Flag a girl stuck her foot in a wasp nest. Now given that there are a bunch of 8-12 year olds who are witnessing their fellow camper getting stung, they all begin to scatter and run around panicking," John explained, "And instead of listening to Washington's orders, Charles went running off too."

"Oh, my!" Eliza said shivering at the thought. She had been stung by a wasp once and panicked herself.

"And this guy is leading wilderness survival and fire safety? Can he be trusted?" Alex asked.

"Apparently," John said shrugging, "He told me he wouldn't freak out this year and that last year was different. He acted kinda cocky, as if what he was doing was more important than what I was doing."

"He seemed really shy at the meeting earlier," she recalled.

"Yeah. In crowds, he seems shy and like a fly on the wall, but get to talk to him one on one and you got yourself a whole different story," John said, "I wish he stuck to astronomy, at least no one can get hurt. But Thomas convinced Washington to let him teach it and here we are."

"Did someone say my name?" Thomas strode over. James followed him coughing.

"Nothing, " Alex said.

"Hmmm, I thought I heard my name gracing your mouth," Thomas said cocking his eyebrow.

Alex's hands became fists and looked like he was about to tell Thomas to mind his own business when Mr. Washington whistled.

"Gather around counselors!" Mr. Washington called out. Thomas smirked and walked away to stand closer to Mr. Washington. Everyone moved to where Mr. Washington was. His back was to the lake and facing the fire his face was lit up.

"I hope you all had a chance to talk and get to know each other and sample some of Mrs. Washington's cooking," he said gesturing to his wife, "I'm sorry I did not introduce her sooner, she was in town grabbing supplies for tomorrow's First Day of Camp Feast." A cheerful older woman waved from the back.

"Now as you all know, camp starts tomorrow and it will be all hands on deck for the next ten weeks," Mr. Washington said. Alex whooped in the back and everyone cheered.

"You all cheer now, but I doubt you'll be cheering in August!" Mr. Washington laughed, "But during these upcoming weeks I want you all to keep some things in mind."

"As you know this year I have set the camp up a little differently as to accommodate more kids from different backgrounds. Firstly, some of these kids from rough backgrounds. This camp offers scholarships so kids from lesser means can come and have a normal summer they might not be able to have otherwise. So, I would like you all to refrain from talking about wealth, income or anything to do with money. That goes along with my second thing, since many of our campers come from rough homes, I would like you all to be as open and friendly as possible. Not that I ever doubted you would be, but just something to keep in mind."

Eliza began to understand why many people didn't return o be counselors. When she was a camper, most of the kids were middle class. She knew there were some changes to the camp when she did her training but didn't think they were enough to make counselors not return.

"I just want you all to be sensitive and understanding. I know you all will be great counselors, so let's make this the best year yet!" Mr. Washington exclaimed. Everyone cheered loudly and everyone was dismissed. Everyone had to be awake at 6 am to be ready for the campers at 9, so people shuffled to their cabins.

When Eliza got to her cabin she noticed a slender red head. "Elizabeth?" the girl said turning around from her bed.

"Yeah. Hi, Eliza's fine," Eliza said reaching to shake the girl's hand. The girl shook her hand very firmly. "Maria Reynolds."

"Nice to meet you," Eliza said smiling. Maria did not seem impressed. "Is this your first year?"

"Have you seen me before?" Maria asked turning around and continued unpacking.

"Uh, no," Eliza said.

"Well, there's your answer, " Maria said.

Eliza decided it was the end of the conversation when Maria strode out of the cabin. Eliza decided it was too late to work on the banner and besides maybe the campers would have fun making it.

She got ready for bed and in the large empty bathroom. She looked into the mirror above the sink and said, "You got this."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: The White Sand Turtle is not a real animal. Also, any of the places I mention are not real.


	3. Chapter 3

Eliza was standing on a dirt path waiting for cars to arrive. She was standing where the highway off-ramp met the dirt path that led to the camp. She was to stand there and wave cars to the camp since the camp was hard to find. Cars often missed where to turn and if they hadn't been to the camp before could get lost very easily. Someone else was supposed to stand there with her but no one had come. Suddenly a heavy panting came from behind her and she saw Alex running full force down the road towards her. He stopped just before hitting her and crouched breathing hard.

"Asthma, gotta love it!" he said between big gasps of air. He pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath.

"My other sister, Peggy, has asthma," Eliza commented. It was still early in the morning, so her thought filter wasn't "on". "Sorry I say random things when I'm tired." She then yawned.

"I get that. She should come up here. I find the fresh air helps me," Alex said after taking another puff from his inhaler.

"I keep telling her that, but she's just as stubborn as the rest of us. That Schuyler stubbornness is strong that one," Eliza said shrugging.

"Is that a Star Wars reference?"

"Yep."

"Sorry, I just watched Star Wars for the first time last week," he said. This seemed wholly unimaginable to her.

"Did you just see _A New Hope_ or the new ones?"

"All of it," he said as the first car slowed and began to turn where they were gesturing.

"What?"

"Yeah. I binge everything I watch or read," he said, "I mean what if I die, I couldn't live if I didn't know the ending."

She laughed. "But seriously? All of the prequels and original trilogy and the new ones?"

"Does this face look like it is kidding?" he said pointing to his face.

"I guess not."

"So you're living with Maria," Alex asked, his back turned to her as he waved on an unsure mother.

"Mmhmm," she said.

"Yeah she told me last night," Alex mentioned.

"Did she?"

"Yeah. She's also doing water safety," Alex said waving another car forward.

"What? I thought only one counselor per activity," Eliza said trying to keep her tone even.

"Usually, but with water safety and stuff around water there has to be legally two counselors for 20 kids," Alex explained, "I looked it up. When Washington told me I had to share activities I was a little irritated, because hey I don't like sharing. But I looked it up and according to child safety regulations and all that, Maria has to be there."

That made Eliza less tense. But why was she even tense, it didn't make any sense. She only just met Alex 24 hours ago. Suddenly, a car turned a little too fast and Alex dove and pushed Eliza out of the way. She probably would have just scrapped against the car but his action was heroic nonetheless.

Alex glared at the car before helping Eliza up. "Are you alright?" He examined her arm, which was muddy but seemed to have no scrapes.

"My t-shirt is all gross now, but I'm fine," she said blushing, "Thanks."

"Are you sure you're alright? That car was going pretty fast and I pushed you kinda hard," he said not convinced. He got his water bottle out and helped her clean he arm and leg off. She was thankful she fell in mud rather than almost getting run over but still. His concern was sweet and he took great pains to make her hands were clean. He pulled out his handkerchief, which she didn't think people carried around anymore.

He was wiping off mud until he handed her the handkerchief, "You better finish cleaning your shirt." She would have blushed deeper if possible but he was already busy waving in another car.

At 10 Laf came down from the camp to tell them that they could come back up and that Washington was going to start the opening ceremony.

"Mes amies looks like there will be a lot of people," Laf said.

"Yeah certainty more than when I came here," Eliza remarked.

"When did you come here?" Laf asked.

"Well, the last time I was here I was 12 so the summer 2009," she said. It was amazing how long ago that was.

"Wait where you here when Mr. King was the Head of the camp?" Laf asked.

Eliza remembered that disastrous summer. "Yeah!"

"Wait, who?" Alex asked.

"I forget that I haven't known you forever," Laf said good-naturedly, "Well for a summer I think it was 2008 'cause that was the last year I was a camper. Mr. Washington had to leave for a family matter or something and so Mr. King, as I call him, lead camp. Mr. George King III. He was very strict about the III part. Anyways, remember when he lit his pants on fire?"

"Of course! I threw a bucket of water to put him out!" Eliza said laughing.

"That was you!" Laf asked, "I have always wondered who did that."

"Well now you know," Eliza said and bowed. The two guys clapped.

Mr. Washington hurried up to them. "Ah, there you are! Go stand up on the stage with the rest of the counselors. I'm trying to find Charles. Do any of you know where he is?"

They told him, that they didn't know where Charles was but that if they found him they would send Charles his way. Mr. Washington just shook his head and waved them to go the stage that was set up earlier that morning.

Eliza stood next to her sister and Alex. She looked out at the sea of kids. This wasn't Kansas anymore. When she was here there were half as many and there were way more girls she remembered. She knew this year Washington had been reworking things and so she would have to throw out anything she thought she knew. But Angelica was standing straight and smiling so she shouldn't be nervous.

Suddenly Angelica called out, "Hey, campers! Let's start off with a camp song. Ember can you lead the 'Welcome to Camp' song?"

Eliza was shocked. She didn't realize she would need to lead a song right out of the gate but realized before any camp meeting everyone sang a camp song, so that hadn't changed. So she started. "This is a repeat song!"

The kids repeated back, "This is a repeat song."

"There was a camp!"

"There was a camp!"

"The greatest camp!"

"The greatest camp!"

"That you ever did see!"

The song was basically a run down of a fictional history of the camp. She included all of the dances and motions including the bit about a giant dragon where you had to flap your arms like a crazy person. As she was leading it, Thomas appeared to be mumbling while Alex hopped down from the stage and began to skip around the campers to get the kids more excited. His energy was infectious and by the end everyone was laughing.

"Thank you, Ember for leading us in that rousing song!" Mr. Washington said smiling, "Everyone give Ember and the rest of the counselors a round of applause! And Hurricane you can come back up here."

All of the campers cheered and Alex hopped back up on the stage theatrically. Does he do parkour? She would ask later.

"Welcome one welcome all to the 23rd annual Camp Valley Forge!" Mr. Washington announced. The counselors made the hand motions to represent unity in the camp. Whenever people agreed or wanted to cheer they made the hand motion with their cheers. She didn't know why but it was something they had always done. They first made a V with their fingers like a peace sign and raised it in the air. Then would bring the hand down and make an X with your arms in front of your chest.

"As you can see our counselors doing, this is what you do when you cheer or as I will explain later, greet your adversary camp."

Everyone made the movement and Mr. Washington said, "Very good! Let me introduce our counselors. Counselors if you would please step forward give your name, cabin, and activity."

"Hello everyone I am Ivy and I am also the Head Counselor. I'm going to leading you all in some leadership and team building activities. Y'all saw that rope course coming in right? Well by the end of the ten weeks y'all will be wizards navigating it!" Angelica exuded such confidence.

Thomas said, "Bonjour, bonjour! My name is Storm and as you have guessed it I'm going to do all things weather and sky. By the end you will be able to pick out all constellations!" Eliza saw Alex roll his eyes.

She noticed James was noticeably missing. No one was coughing and she wondered where he was. But Charles had somehow found his way on stage and was introducing himself. The way he announced he would be doing wildlife and fire safety betrayed nothing but confidence but after John's story she wasn't so sure.

Everyone went down the line. Alex said, "Water you waiting for? I can't wave to meet you all! My name is Hurricane and if you can't tell I'm going leading in a bunch of awesome cool water activities! Those of you assigned to Cabin E, I will be your Cabin Counselor!"

"Co- Cabin Counselor!" Aaron interjected and jokingly said, "Sit down man!" Everyone laughed.

"One more thing! You know why it's called Cabin E? Because it is excellent! Okay, your turn Boulder, tell'em all about archery."

Finally Maria was last. "Hello! My name is Dusk. I am also doing water activities with y'all. And I will be in the same cabin as Ember."

"And I am the General. Every week those of you interested on your down time are welcome to join me for the weekly hike. I know many of you will be tired so you need not attend every week but just know hikes are during your Tuesday afternoon down time and the door is always open for you to join. Every other weekend I will be leading a extended hike that will take the day, you won't want to miss these trips I assure you, though you are not obligated to. When I am not leading hikes I will be around making sure you all have a great time!"

Mr. Washington went through some basic rules and began to split the kids up into their day groups and explained how the days would work. Everyone woke up at 7 and had breakfast with their cabins and then would break into their day groups. These groups would go around and do activities together. There was one activity in the morning and then there was lunch and downtime before their afternoon activity would happen. Dinner and then evening camp songs and social time. Bedtime was strictly 8:30. A bunch of campers groaned at the bedtime but Mr. Washington said, "Now, now. You won't be upset about bedtime after a long day of fun activities."

"Remember, at the end of the 10 weeks we have our annual Capture the Flag game against Camp Royal Pines. Now we lost last year but never fear, I see victory in our future! King won't see it coming! That's why you will notice there are no competitions against other cabins or day groups. In this camp we are a united group. Understood?"

Since when had Mr. King made his own camp? And was the man so vain as to merely use his last name as his camp name? She remembered how he hadn't even given himself a camp name when he was the Head of their camp.

Everyone used the camp's gesture they had just learned and everyone was dismissed to their designated cabins. In terms of that day, there were no activities planned. The day was meant to get the kids moved in and getting to know each other. There would be a tour later.

She entered he cabin and noticed trouble immediately. Maria was nowhere to be found and there were girls everywhere. She noticed 2 girls fighting over whether they got the top bunk. She easily helped them come to the decision that the first 5 weeks one girl would get the top bunk and then they would switch after 5 weeks.

But then she noticed a girl who had a top bunk and seemed scared. Eliza climbed up and said, "Hey, everything alright?" The girl just sniffed and nodded. Eliza knew there would be no way to get the girl to spill her secrets. She would just have to wait for her to come to her.

"What's your name?" Eliza decided to ask. She would have to somehow learn every camper's name. Granted they would be making name lanyards later that day but a whole camp's worth of names would be quite a feat.

"Theodosia," the girl whispered.

"Well, it is really nice to meet you," Eliza said shaking the girl's hand, "If you need anything, just let me or Dusk know, okay?"

Theodosia only nodded and Eliza climbed down.

"Hey everyone! Welcome to your home away from home! I don't know where Dusk is but for now my name is Ember. Why don't we go around and share our names and something interesting about you. I'll start. My name is Ember and I have been playing the piano since I was three. Let's go around this direction, clockwise. "

She hated her self for making everyone introduce herself. She always despised this part of camp, all the name games and getting to know you activities.

Everyone went around. Only two names caught her interest. Phillipa and a girl named Theodosia. Both girls stood out in two complete polar opposites

Phillipa had rapped, "My name is Phillipa and I'm a poet. I wrote this poem just to show it! And I just turned nine, you can write rhymes but you can't write mine!"

Theodosia whispered her name and that she shared the same name as her mom.

"Well, now that we all know each other, I think we should start making our cabin banner," she said dragging the large blank canvas banner to the center of the room. They had a few hours before lunch and this would a good bonding activity amongst the campers.

She watched the campers work busily until James appeared in their doorway. Coughing he asked, "Do you by chance have any white paint?"

"Yeah, here you go," she said handing him one of the tubes of white paint. Apparently, everyone had the same idea to have their campers make the banners.

"Are you alright?" she asked. He still had a terrible cough. He waved her concern away.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Dusk had been absent for most of the day. Eliza had spotted her with Laf, Thomas and Alex. That night after all the campers were in bed she was sitting outside on the front steps of the cabin looking at the sky. She couldn't fall asleep and since there was no cell service, she couldn't just sit on her phone. So, she did what she always did when she could sleep at camp. She looked to the sky.

A shooting star passed. "Did you make a wish?" It was Angelica.

"Yeah," Eliza said smiling, "And no I won't tell you!"

"Wasn't even going to ask. Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Same."

"What's troubling you?" Eliza asked.

"Nothing really," Angelica sighed sitting next to her, "This is going to sound weak but having 5 girls in my cabin is stressful."

"you're telling me!" Eliza scoffed.

"Washington has me running around everywhere and I barely saw my campers. I'm worried I won't connect with any of them," Angelica confided.

"Angelica, you got this. You've been a counselor longer than me, so you know all the tricks."

"Maybe but hey there is a girl named Angelica, goes by Angie, in my cabin," Angelica said, "What are you worried about?"

"I dunno. 20 girls and each one is so different and Maria hasn't been around. I wonder if she's avoiding me, she doesn't seem to like me."

"Don't worry about Maria. She's probably just got first day jitters. And you will get to know them really fast, so no need to worry on that front," Angelica said hugging her sister, "Now get to sleep. Washington isn't kidding when he says the days are long.

Angelica got up and returned to her cabin and Eliza looked up at the sky where her shoot star had been. She hoped her wish would come true.


	4. Chapter 4

Eliza woke up excited. Today was the first day of camp for real. Today everyone would have activities and it would be a lot of fun. Her activity wasn't until the afternoon so this morning she would find someone to help out.

She ushered all of her campers to breakfast. Breakfasts were always eaten with the cabin. Theodosia sat at the end of the table and only picked at her eggs. Eliza's eyebrows knit with worry. Maria was busy chatting with a few of the kids, which made her feel better.

During breakfast, Mr. Washington gave a quick rundown of the day and then everyone was dismissed. She noticed Herc and went over to him.

"Do you need a hand?"

"More the merrier!" he said smiling.

Herc led everyone to a bunch of picnic tables. They walked past Alex on the shore of the lake, he seemed to be gesturing wildly and Maria was demonstrating life jackets. On the table were a bunch of leather circle and what looked like chisels.

"Hello everyone! My name is Oak again. Let's go around and share names," he said. After everyone said his or her name he said, "Well, I'll tell you a secret. I am terrible with names which is why we are making name tags!"

He took a piece of leather and demonstrated how first to pick the letter and press it into the soft leather. Then with the rubber mallet, he gave one thwack and pulled the letter out. On the leather, there was an O. Since his name was short he did the other two letters and when he was done he showed it to the group. OAK was now stamped into the leather.

"After you're done with your name feel free to color it or stamp pictures into it. He produced a box of stamps that had different designs. "Be sure to stamp a hole in the top so you can put the string through and make it a necklace."

He released the kids and everyone started working. Eliza wasn't sure what she was meant to do. But then a girl had to go to the bathroom. Rather than finding a buddy, she decided to walk with her.

As they walked they passed the lake and she noticed Alex was holding Maria rather tightly as he was pulling her to shore. Eliza had been a lifeguard at her local pool one summer so she knew he was showing the kids basic safety tips. But Maria looked as if she was holding on to him a little tighter than necessary. Eliza felt a twinge of jealousy. She shook her head; it was silly to feel like this. It wasn't like Alex and she had anything. But she felt something in her chest regardless.

When they got back, Herc was sitting at one on the tables painting leaves on his leather name tag. Without looking up he tossed her a piece of leather.

She sat down and began stamping out her name. "You are really good at painting."

"Thanks," he said looking up.

"I'm alright with a pencil but paint…. Nope," she said laughing.

"They aren't so different," Herc said.

"Maybe not but with paint, you can't just erase. You can paint over it but that takes too long. I have no patience for that sort of thing," she remarked.

"Just takes time," Herc said. He set his paintbrush down and she could see he had painted elaborate leaves all over name tag.

She had barely stamped her name out when one of the campers hit his finger with a mallet. Apparently, pretty hard because the boy started crying. Herc was on it. He grabbed the first aid kit and took the boy's hand. Thankfully there was no blood drawn, the finger was just turning red.

"Go up to the clinic, Ember will you take him?" Eliza nodded. There was really no question. She walked the boy and at the clinic, there was also Alex with another camper who still had her life jacket on. She seemed to have a scrapped knee.

"A real battlefield eh?" Alex said. He was filling out an incident report form.

Charles was disinfecting the girl's knee and said, "I'm ready for 'em."

Alex kept filling out the form and Eliza grabbed a form and also began the tedious process.

By the time both of them were out of the clinic, it was lunchtime. Eliza saw Theodosia sitting alone again. Her plate only had a few carrot sticks. Eliza knew Theodosia hadn't eaten that morning and was worried.

"Hey Theodosia," she said scooting closer to the girl.

"Hi," she said not looking up.

"What activity did you have this morning?" Eliza asked casually.

"Archery," she said.

"Oh, with Boulder!" Eliza said remembering Aaron's introduction. She didn't know how to feel about Aaron. He ducked into every group at some point but didn't make it a point to stay. She had seen him talking with Alex and John but a few minutes later sharing a joke with Thomas.

"Did you hit the bulls-eye?"

"Yeah," she said still not making eye contact.

"Really?" Eliza said smiling, "I've never hit the center or anywhere on the target."

"Yeah. I do archery at home. So I guess I'm alright."

Eliza wondered why this girl wasn't jumping up and down with her achievement. "You know you could win the best archer at the end of the summer if you keep it up!" At the end of the summer everyone even the counselors could win various awards. Some were merit-based like the archery award and some were voted upon. Mr. Washington had always hated what he called, popularity contests. He wanted to make sure people earned awards, not out of pity, but out of talent and real merit. But some awards like "best campfire singer" was just for fun.

Theodosia just shrugged and got up. Eliza had thought her conversation had gone well, but now she was wondering why this girl seemed so lost. Aaron walked over to Eliza. "Is Theodosia alright?"

"I don't know," Eliza said honestly, "What? Do you know something?"

"Give her time."

Eliza gave him a confused look.

"We talked earlier," Aaron said vaguely before finding Alex. Somehow this guy connected better to one of her campers than she had. Great, she was really doing a bang up job at connecting. At a second thought it actually really pissed her off that Aaron could so easily gain the trust of campers and here she was making silly small talk. But no point in being angry, she would just have to try that much harder to connect and interact with the campers.

Mr. Washingotn was not leading a hike that Tuesday. It was the first Tuesday and he announced all of the campers were to continue to settle in and meet their fellow campers. Eliza paced around nervously for her activity.

Behind her, she heard some raised voices. She walked around to where the temporary outhouses were. There she saw Phillipa and a camper called George Eacker. This boy thin and nearly the same height as Alex. His mop of curly blonde hair was hanging in his red face and he looked like he had been dragged through the dirt. Alex at this moment trying to hold Phillipa back. Her face was all red and it looked like she had also recently been rolling around in the dirt.

"Eacker it's none of your business."

"Uh, yeah it's my business. How can you walk around the way you are? I don't feel safe and therefore I have to make sure!" Eacker shot back.

"Eacker, march yourself to the General's office right now!" Alex said trying to stay calm and yet utterly wanting to punch the boy in the face.

"Why do I have to? Phillipa punched me!" Eacker complained getting in Alex and Phillipa's face.

"Get the fuck back!" Phillipa shouted. She was about to charge forth when Alex tightened her grip on her.

"Eacker, I don't care what who said what and who did what, I told you to march yourself to the General's office!" Alex said firmly and with an icy tone, she hoped she would never be to cause of.

"Fine!" the boy stomped away.

After the boy was a considerable distance away, Alex knelt down and looked at Phillipa.

"You can't hit people," Alex said calmly.

"Did you hear what he called me?" she said angrily.

"Yeah, I did. If this happened on the streets or outside of camp, I would tell you to kick his ass. But here you can't. You just can't," he said calmly.

"I'm gonna get in trouble right?" she blew her bangs out of her face and mumbled, "and on the second day too." Now Eliza saw tears coming from the girl.

"No. Not on my watch. Try and stay calm. Just be honest when you're asked what happened. No one can fault you for that," Alex said. His eyebrows were knit as if he wasn't sure the outcome.

"But-but…" she said before Alex cut her off.

"Come on, let's get this over with," Alex said rising and dusting off his shorts.

As Alex and Phillipa walked past, Alex saw Eliza and shook his head. She understood. _Talk later. Keep this on the down low._

Eliza went about the rest of her day. Her first activity was thankfully easy. It was just a singing game where you tossed a ball and said something relating to the topic. One round was woodland animals and in Eliza's preoccupied mind messed up on the first go around. Someone had said squirrel and like a noob repeated the animal which wasn't allowed.

Finally, it was the end of the day. Mr. Washington at the end of the day meeting seemed a bit worn out already but he kept a stoic demeanor.

"I would like to remind everyone to be kind to each other. We all come from different backgrounds and we should all be aware and sensitive about how our actions affect others."

Many of the kids looked confused. To them, this statement seemed to come out of nowhere. They probably thought they were being kind and had made tons of friends and didn't understand where this speech was coming from.

After everyone nodded and made the camp signal, everyone was dismissed to mingle until bedtime. Alex jogged up to Eliza and told her, "Listen, what you saw…Please don't tell anyone."

"I wasn't going to," Eliza reassured. She knew the camp's rules on privacy and confidentiality. She wasn't stupid.

"I know, I just had to make sure," he said letting out a breath.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, "You handled the situation really well. I'm sorry I didn't jump in to help you."

"Pshhhh! I had it handled. Any camper that thinks they can take down me is on a fool's errand," he joked, "But actually if the situation had gotten any worse, I would have been praying you would help me break it up."

Eliza was still in the dark about what had happened. With that she excused herself; she wanted to track down Phillipa to see if she was alright. It wasn't hard to find the girl. She decided not to say anything and merely observe. Phillipa looked as if nothing had happened. Eacker was also there but he was talking to his own group and friends and every so often eyeing Phillipa.

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to bookmark, give a kudos, comment or all three!


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